Pantry Love

"Oh, I just love to clean pantries," Donna said.  The two girls held hands and ran across the lawn toward the Hollister house.  

The pantry was a large walk-in closet entered by a door in the kitchen.  It was bright and cheerful, having a window high on the outside wall. 

Shelf after shelf was covered with red and white paper, and on them were stacked neat rows of canned goods, spices, bottles of ketchup, maple sugar, and other good things to eat.  On the bottom one stood yellow canisters of flour and sugar.

"This will be fun to clean," Donna said as the three girls surveyed their chore.

The Happy Hollisters and the Sea Turtle Mystery by Jerry West

 

Via



Via

Via

Oh, how I love an organized pantry!  Aside from the beauty of clean and neat, I think it conjures warm memories of my childhood.  One grandmother had a walk-in room off her kitchen which housed neat rows of cans and jars (and an ample supply of Little Debbie treats!).  My other grandmother had a basement kitchen for her canning, and there was a storage room brimming with jars of apples, beans, tomatoes, and my grandfather's attempts at wine.  At home, I loved to sort and rearrange our own small walk-in pantry (I think my mom appreciated it?!).

But my favorite kitchen of all was an old house belonging to one of my teachers.  As a child, the ceilings seemed to soar.  A bank of windows brought a flood of light into the room.  Cabinets opened to reveal of myriad of shelves for storage.  But it all paled in comparison to the jewel: a butler's pantry!  This darling room was accessed through swinging doors and had lovely rows of cabinets for china, silver and much, much more!

Sadly, I don't have a pantry. I do have a coat-closet-turned-food-storage, but it doesn't function well in the capacity of pantry mostly due to the fact that it is too deep (pantries should be 12-18" MAX). 

But this girl can continue to dream of those organized shelves filled with food stuffs to feed a small army of hungry children.